A Virtual Reality Based Aid for Studying Medicine

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Abstract Summary

The human muscular system is an incredibly complex, multilayered mesh of bundled muscle tissue that works together to move the body. Learning the inner workings of this system can be very difficult through just traditional lecturing and memorization methods that are currently in use. This is due to a large number of individual muscles in the body, which must be understood as working in tandem with one another to generate movement. I have proposed an observational virtual simulation for students studying human anatomy, that will allow users to see the human muscular system performing various movements while also highlighting muscles in tension and compression with distinct colors. This provides a unique perspective for the students that is designed to ease this learning process. A study was performed to test students ability to learn through the virtual simulation compared to traditional methods of learning such as reading texts and analyzing images. Successfully using virtual simulation to ease the learning of complex anatomy and physiology could be applied far beyond just the muscular system. In order to test this idea, participants were tested on their knowledge then they used the proposed method of learning or traditional methods such as textbooks to learn the material then they will be tested again to see if there is a change in their understanding of the material.